Diversity is made possible by having a variety of different activities (residential, commercial, institutional…) taking place in the same area. On the contrary, separating activities in distinct areas creates so-called monofunctional environments (bedroom communites, highway-accessible big boxes and shopping centers…). This separation of activities multiplies travel needs to the point where we sometimes have to burn a gallon of fuel to buy milk!

A diversified city: city of short distances

Mixing activities within an area reduces travel distances for daily activities. This gives residents easy access to local businesses and services by foot or bike. Indeed, mix of uses and GHG emissions are directly connected: the more products and services a neighborhood is able to provide, the fewer the need for its inhabitants to use their car. Vehicule kilometers traveled (VKT) by residents of mixed-use neighborhoods is on average 45% lower than in monofunctional areas[1]. People are also more active in the former. When their home is located at a short walking distance of stores and other services, people are 2.4 times more likely to achieve the 30 minutes of recommended daily exercise than when distances make the use of car almost inevitable.

Cartier street in Quebec City – Source: Christian Petit

Mix of uses and economic well-being

A mixed-use street contributes to the economic vitality of the neighborhood, and indeed the entire city. Therefore, revitalizing the commercial fabric of a street is an efficient way to induce the same effect for the whole community. Moreover, since main streets often are also the oldest, they are built on a human scale and offer pedestrians an appealing architecture, provided they are well maintained and safe to walk instead of appearing neglected and blighted.

Complete and friendly living environments

The mix of uses contributes to creating living environments that are complete, appealing and appreciated. It also creates lively and socially active neighborhoods all day long, which tend to be safer and certainly friendlier.

Also essential to an area’s diversity are the parks, squares and other public spaces that, if well designed, foster social interactions and active transportation[2]. Inhabitants of mixed-use neighborhoods show higher levels of trust and community participation. And it works the other way around too: shops, stores and all manner of community events located near friendly public spaces directly benefit from having more people.

A PROJECT BY VIVRE EN VILLE

Vivre en Ville is an NGO dedicated to improving the quality of the natural and living environments in Quebec communities by promoting sustainable urban planning. Through research, demonstration projects and support programs, training tools and public events, Vivre en Ville stimulates innovation and participates in the development of sustainable communities, at the building, neighbourhood, city and metropolitan scales. You can support us by becoming a member.